NASAThe corporate’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is in the method of testing a latest robot it hopes to send into space to assist answer the age-old query of whether life exists beyond Earth.
Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor System (EELS). is a snake-like robot designed to maneuver through solid and liquid formations during sampling.
One of the space agency’s stated goals is to succeed in the surface of Enceladus, one of Saturn’s 83 moons, and study its icy features.
As a consequence of the Voyager space probe flyby within the Eighties, Enceladus’s icy surface is believed to be relatively smooth, with temperatures in excess of 300 degrees Fahrenheit below freezing.
In 2005, NASA’s Cassini probe discovered that icy particles flowed from the lunar surface into space, forming their very own ring as they orbited Saturn.
These eruptions from the moon’s surface gave rise to the idea that there may be a vast liquid ocean beneath the surface.
Hostile conditions are one of the numerous challenges that the EELS team took into consideration when designing a ship that may survive in extreme environments.
![NASA is working on The Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS) system, a snake-like robot that would be used to survey the surface of Enceladus, one of Saturn's 83 moons.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/newspress-collage-26940270-1683436274959.jpg?1683422069&w=1024&1683422069)
![One of the space agency's stated goals is to reach the surface of Enceladus, one of Saturn's 83 moons, and study its icy features.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/SWNS_SPACE_SNAKE_06.jpg?w=1024)
![The EELS prototype is being tested at an ice rink in Pasadena.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/SWNS_SPACE_SNAKE_02.jpg?w=1024)
The complex propulsion system will allow the exploration of solid or fluid landscapes, and members have been busy testing the surveyor in hostile regions of the Earth.
The 16-foot robot was used to explore glaciers and volcanoes to check its capabilities.
NASA has not set a start date for the EELS project, which suggests any mission is years away.
If the mission is successful, the space agency said it may lead to deeper exploration of celestial bodies once thought unattainable.